CRANBERRY, Pa. -- Kasperi Kapanen wore a regular black jersey during the Penguins' practice at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex Wednesday, which means he was cleared to be a full participant.
Which he really wasn't.
Oh, Kapanen had the necessary medical approval to be involved, but he had a lot more downtime than he would if he wasn't returning from an injury.
He didn't skate in his usual spot on the No. 2 line -- Kapanen alternated between the third and fourth units -- and made only a few appearances on the second power-play unit.
Still, being allowed to work out with his teammates was another step toward his return, even though Kapanen won't be in the lineup when the Penguins face New Jersey Thursday at 7:08 p.m. at PPG Paints Arena, and said he hasn't set a target date for when he hopes to resume playing.
He also appeared to inadvertently share some information about the nature of the injury that has forced him to sit out the past 13 games while discussing his prognosis during an online interview with reporters.
"Whenever there's a foot injury, I feel like we take extra precautions," he said.
The Penguins have 10 regular-season games remaining; with those being shoehorned into a span of 17 days, practice time -- ie., a chance for Kapanen to work on his timing and conditioning -- will be relatively rare.
"It's not an ideal environment for these (injured) guys, in a return-to-play scenario," Mike Sullivan said.
In addition to not having a firm date when Kapanen will return to the lineup, it isn't certain where he will be deployed.
He had developed a productive partnership with Evgeni Malkin, also injured now, on the second line, but the addition of center Jeff Carter at the trade deadline might give Sullivan a few more options when putting together forward combinations.
"Our expectation is that when (Kapanen) gets back in the lineup, we'll try to put him in a position where he can play to his strengths," Sullivan said. "We're obviously going to have to be conscious of where he is at with respect to conditioning and things of that nature."
Kapanen was shut out in his final three games, but had two goals and six assists in the seven games before that drought.
"Some of the best hockey he played was right before he got hurt," Sullivan said.
That, Kapanen said, is what he hopes to replicate when he returns to act, regardless of when that is or where he is used.
"Once I come back, I just want to start where I left off," he said. "I feel like I was playing my game and I was good."
